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A new but familiar player in Battle Creek economic development

Battle Creek city commissioners voted Tuesday to expand the scope of Cereal City Development Corp. to assist in the city's economic development efforts, particularly within the downtown Central Business District.

An expanded partnership between the city of Battle Creek and Cereal City Development Corp. could offer a short-term solution to some of the city's community development woes.

Battle Creek city commissioners voted Tuesday to expand the scope of CCDC to assist in the city's economic development efforts, particularly within the downtown Central Business District. It is expected to be operating within the city by July 1.

CCDC, a non-profit corporation which manages Kellogg Arena and Festival Market Square, will add to its duties "data-driven" recruitment and retention services, support of community festivals and events, marketing the city to potential businesses, obtaining grants and acquiring real estate, among other tasks.

The agreement also gives the green light to CCDC to hire "all necessary consultants, independent contractors and employees" to assist in its duties.

The city's complete contract with CCDC is posted below.

Battle Creek Assistant City Manager Ted Dearing said the city anticipates hiring three employees for the effort, including John Hart, who is now the city's downtown development director.

Hart would serve in the same capacity for CCDC alongside a manager of communications and a manager of recruitment and retention.

Dearing said the expanded effort came as a response to gaps identified in serving small businesses in the region.

Dearing called the expansion of duties within CCDC a "short-term solution" to determine the effectiveness of the partnership. The city has signed on until 2020. At that time, Dearing said CCDC could merge with BCU to create a single economic development agency.

"That's what we've all talked about," BCU President and CEO Joe Sobieralski said. He added that there's a need to "fire this up and get boots on the ground as it's needed now."

BCU plans to see both downtown projects through to the finish with an eye toward collaboration with CCDC on future retail and commercial developments, he said.

As to whether BCU could have immediately absorbed the duties now tasked to CCDC, Sobieralski said he's still building his staff — adding two new members already this year — with a niche in industrial economic development. Any additional responsibility at this point would have been "virtually impossible.

Cereal City Development Corp. was created in the early 1970s as the funding arm of Battle Creek's DDA. In recent years, CCDC has been tasked with managing the city-owned entities of Kellogg Arena, a portable bandshell known as the Showmobile, Festival Market Square and Binder Park Golf Course.

It is governed by a nine-member board chaired by Linda Freybler, who also serves as president of the Battle Creek Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"It’s very positive for the city to have dedicated staff really focused on both the downtown and many of the other neighborhoods, all the business districts and really bringing focus to that," she said Wednesday.